By: Brandon Wolfe
Man, is this a hard show to watch. Not in the sense that it’s depressing or challenging, qualities that could make its difficulty to endure commendable in a way (and qualities that the show clearly aspires toward), but in its inertia and frustrating lack of focus. As I’ve stated time and again, ‘The Leftovers’ has a core premise that could make for a fantastic television series, but this is not that series. This series is a flummoxing mass of uncooked dough, a collection of murky, half-formed ideas that aren’t as tantalizing as its creators believe they are. It is, in short, very much a Damon Lindelof show, and I mean that in the worst way. There really isn’t a good way to mean that, but I want it to be clear that of all the possible ways it could be meant, I mean the very worst one.
After last week’s surprisingly solid outing, which centered its focus around Nora Durst, who has quickly emerged as the most interesting and engaging character on the series (not a tough feat, that), ‘The Leftovers’ is back spreading its focus around, its spotlight unfortunately landing upon the series’ two favorite subjects: the Garvey family and the Guilty Remnant. Kevin Garvey has struck up an oddly affectionate relationship with Nora, playful and intimate in a manner unbecoming of this joyless series. Arriving at Nora’s home to consummate their new relationship, they encounter a pair of GR representatives (including newly-minted member Meg) standing in front of the house. Kevin begins to implore them to beat it, but Nora, further proving her awesomeness, takes a different tack and turns the hose on them. Though this comeuppance gives the couple some much-needed glee, the encounter has spoiled their romantic mood and they decide to put a pin in their inaugural tryst.
That’s probably a good thing because Kevin immediately learns from daughter Jill that his father, Kevin Sr. (Scott Glenn), has somehow escaped from the mental hospital where he resides. Kevin Sr., the former chief of police who had a mental breakdown in the recent past and burned down a library, resurfaces in the woods just in time to save Jill from suffocating inside an abandoned refrigerator as part of a dumb dare-contest held among her classmates. When Kevin Jr. learns his father is on the loose, apprehending him becomes his top priority. Eventually, Dad makes his way to Kevin’s home, where he engages in some light bonding with Jill before Kevin shows up to haul him away. However, when a GR rally blocks traffic, the elder Garvey sprints out of the car and vanishes, leaving Kevin looking lost in the street, barely acknowledging his ex-wife’s existence as he passes her by.
Kevin picks up a clue to his father’s whereabouts when the dog in his yard - which Kevin brought home the night before and was viciously bitten by, yet inexplicably has no memory of whatsoever – digs up the Jif jar containing the money and telltale flyer belonging to Reverend Matt, which figured into that character’s showcase episode a few weeks ago. Kevin contacts Matt to demand to see his father and a meeting is set. Matt brings Kevin Sr. to a bar to meet Jr. and father and son have a chat. Kevin Sr. begins spouting a bunch of enigmatic nonsense, about how Kevin cannot hide any longer and how his services are being requested, before handing his son a 1972 copy of National Geographic without explaining its implied significance. When Kevin professes his confusion and asks his father for some clarification, the old man punches his son in the face and is hauled off to a jail cell. When Kevin ultimately returns home, he finds that same issue of National Geographic in his kitchen, ordered by Jill at her grandfather’s request.
Everything about the Kevin Sr. storyline underlines precisely what’s irritating about ‘The Leftovers’ and, by extension, Lindelof’s signature approach to storytelling. In ‘Lost’ and ‘Prometheus’, Lindelof would dole out vaguely worded non-information without any subsequent elaboration. The mere posing of such mysterious idea fragments was apparently enough in his mind to keep viewers hooked. And, in those cases, it was, at least for a while. He was able to coast on those parlor tricks for some time (in the case of ‘Lost’, for six whole years) before ultimately crashing and burning when he was forced to reveal that he had no answers to any of these riddles. What shoots ‘The Leftovers’ in the foot is that, this time, the questions themselves aren’t intriguing. Precious little about any of these people or the world they inhabit is, so Kevin Sr. babbling mumbo-jumbo and offering an old magazine as a key to unlocking the mysteries of the universe gets to be annoying even before we will inevitably find out that none of it will go anywhere or be expounded upon. Similarly, who cares about the mysterious dog or why Kevin has no recollection of bringing it home? ‘The Leftovers’ is so bent on being elusive that it’s not even bothering to bait the hook before trying to reel us in.
It’s not any better in the other Garvey thread (oy, this family), with son Tom still on the lam with Christine, the pregnant woman entrusted to him by the obnoxiously unforthcoming Holy Wayne. When Wayne finally breaks his silence and contacts Tom, he demands that Tom place half of the remaining money previously given to him in an envelope and to leave it under a designated mailbox. Tom, frustrated at the lack of information and answers (making him our audience surrogate, I suppose)complies, but then stakes out the mailbox and follows the retriever of the money back to a motel, where he learns that this man is also an emissary for Wayne and also has a very pregnant Asian woman under his care. While Tom and the man find some humor in their situation, this other pregnant woman does not enjoy finding out that she wasn’t a unique snowflake in Wayne’s plans and opens fire on Tom, shooting him through the hand as he flees. Tom, frustrated with his situation, destroys his phone when Wayne calls him again, apparently renouncing his master and going his own way. If I’ve inadvertently made any of this sound interesting, I sincerely apologize.
It’s getting almost impossible to retain any hope that ‘The Leftovers’ will sort itself out. It’s still a series that remains largely formless, that isn’t at all compelling, that doesn’t really have a thing going in its favor beyond its misguided expectation that you will be captivated by its confoundingly cryptic nature. And there is no reason to suspect that anything will come together before the season’s rapidly approaching finale. Taking ‘Lost’ as an example, Lindelof likely is working under the assumption that he will have several years to drag out his wispy mysteries. All we can hope for is that enough people have turned their backs to ‘The Leftovers’ this year to deny him any further opportunity to waste anyone’s time.
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